UK discussed plan to oust Saddam in 2002: Blair
London, May 1
The UK discussed supporting the USA to bring about a change of government in Iraq eight months before the March 2003 invasion, Mr Tony Blair said today.
But the Prime Minister, facing an election on Thursday in which the decisive war could cost him votes, denied suggestions his government took an early decision to topple Saddam Hussein.

Rumsfeld held secret talks with Saddam?
Jerusalem, May 1
US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld paid a secret visit to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and offered him freedom and possible return of public life if he made a televised request to armed groups for a ceasefire with allied forces, a media report said.

Canada’s adviser meets Kanishka victims’ kinVancouver, May 1Former Ontario premier Bob Rae, appointed to review the Air-India bombing trial and advice the Canadian Government whether a public inquiry is needed into the 1985 tragedy, has met family members of the victims for the first time.

3 killed, 7 hurt in Cairo attacks
Cairo, May 1
A suicide bomber struck at foreign tourists near Egypt’s most famous museum while his veiled sister and his girlfriend opened fire at a tourist bus in attacks that left all three dead, officials said.

North Korea lashes out at Bush
Washington, May 1
North Korea lashed out at President Bush on Saturday for comments he made about the country's leader, Kim Il
Jong, at a news conference on Thursday, asserting that the North Korean nuclear crisis will never be resolved while Bush remains in office.

“Veer-Zaara” dominates Bollywood Awards
Atlantic City (USA), May 1
Yash Chopra’s blockbuster “Veer-Zaara”, based on a love affair between an
Indian man and Pakistani woman, dominated the annual Bollywood Awards here,
winning top honours in six categories, including best film, best direction and
best actor. A visibly happy Chopra accepted the award for best direction for “Veer-Zaara”, which also received the best film award, at a star-studded ceremony at Trump Taj Mahal Casino here last night but Shah Rukh Khan, adjudged the best actor, was not present to receive the trophy in person.Rani Mukherjee receives the Best Actress Award for the movie “Black” at the 2005 Bollywood Awards at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City on Saturday. — Reuters
photo

Sudarshan Patnaik, who recently sculpted a 15-foot tall replica
of the Taj
Mahal at Houston in the US, will now carve a 'black Taj Mahal' in
front of the white one at Agra, India, in December this year as part of
celebrations to mark the 350th year of the Taj Mahal. — PTI

Monks from the Shaolin Temple during a martial art
performance in Shenzhen, southeastern China, on Sunday. A Kungfu festival
will be held in Shenzhen during the upcoming seven-day holiday.
— AP/PTI

Pakistan for settlement of Kishanganga issue
Islamabad, May 1
Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani has said that Pakistan wants resolution of the Kishanganga issue by mutual consent of Islamabad and New Delhi in accordance with the spirit of the Indus Water Treaty.

Pak against removing UN observersIslamabad, May 1Pakistan has said it will not agree to a suggestion to dismantle a UN observers’ group in both sides of Kashmir until the Kashmir issue is resolved.

Thousands hold rally in Nepal, seek rightsKathmandu, May 1In the first huge anti-government rally since the February 1 power grab by Nepal King
Gyanendra, some 15,000 trade union activists and labourers today marched in the capital to mark International Labour Day demanding trade union rights, democracy, Press freedom and human rights, a day after the royal government lifted emergency.

Nepal-China friendship bus
Kathmandu, May 1
The first direct bus service between Kathmandu and China's Lhasa was flagged off today morning.
Jointly inaugurated by Nepal's Labour and Transport Minister Ram Narayan Singh
and the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Sun Heping, the 43-seat bus rolled out of
Lalitpur in the Nepalese capital at 8.30 am.

Planet sighted outside solar system
Washington, May 1
Scientists in Chile have confirmed they have photographed the first planet outside the solar system.
The planet, known as 2M1207b, and its parent star are about 230 light years away from the earth, in the southern constellation of Hydra, reports Internet portal Science Daily.

Physicist Shaw dead
Laguna Beach, May 1
Gordon Shaw, the physicist whose research on classical music's effect on the brain produced an often-quoted study that showed listening to Mozart raises a person's IQ, has died. He was 72.

London, May 1
The UK discussed supporting the USA to bring about a change of government in Iraq eight months before the March 2003 invasion, Mr Tony Blair said today.

But the Prime Minister, facing an election on Thursday in which the decisive war could cost him votes, denied suggestions his government took an early decision to topple Saddam Hussein.

His comments came in response to a leaked memo in a newspaper that said Mr Blair and US President George W. Bush were determined to oust Iraq’s former leader as early as July 2002.

“I actually talked about regime change if it wasn’t possible to get him (Saddam) to comply with international law,” Mr Blair said in a phone-in on British commercial radio stations.

Mr Blair confirmed he discussed removing Saddam in a July 2002 top-level government meeting after Sunday Times printed, what it said, were secret minutes of that meeting.

“Of course all the time what you are thinking is what happens if we can’t do this in a peaceful way,” Mr Blair told BBC Television, when asked about the contents of the leaked memo.

The leaked document gave fresh ammunition to Mr Blair’s political opponents who accuse him of lying to the public and Parliament over Iraq and of striking a pact with Mr Bush to launch an invasion well before seeking UN backing.
— Reuters

Jerusalem, May 1
US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld paid a secret visit to former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and offered him freedom and possible return of public life if he made a televised request to armed groups for a ceasefire with allied forces, a media report said.

The visit came during Rumsfeld’s visit to Iraq about two weeks ago and was known only to a few Iraqi officials in Jordan, the Arb daily reported.

Some two weeks ago the British Telegraph had reported that Iraqi gunmen were offered a “deal” to halt all terror attacks in return for a reduced sentence for Saddam, likely to be sentenced to death.
— PTI

Vancouver, May 1
Former Ontario premier Bob Rae, appointed to review the Air-India bombing trial and advice the Canadian Government whether a public inquiry is needed into the 1985 tragedy, has met family members of the victims for the first time.

A British Columbia Court had in March found the main accused Ripudaman Singh Malik, a Vancouver-based millionaire businessman and millworker Ajaib Singh Bagri not guilty of eight murder and conspiracy charges, triggering a wave of protests from relatives of the victims who termed the judgement as a “second tragedy” and demanded a public inquiry.

Public Security Minister Anne McLellan had announced last week that Rae would review all evidence, previous inquiry findings related to the Kanishka bombing case and actions taken by the police after the bombing of the flight, which crashed off the Irish coast killing all 329 persons on board.

Rae, a lawyer and former premier who retired from politics in 1996, said he wouldn’t discuss details of the four-hour meeting yesterday, but admitted there were questions that needed to be answered.

Cairo, May 1
A suicide bomber struck at foreign tourists near Egypt’s most famous museum while his veiled sister and his girlfriend opened fire at a tourist bus in attacks that left all three dead, officials said.

The bombing yesterday injured seven persons, including four foreigners near the Egyptian museum, a key tourist attraction for its pharaonic treasures.

The casualties were three Egyptians, an Israeli couple aged 60 and 55, an Italian man aged 26 and a Swedish man aged 28, the Interior Ministry said.

In the bus attack in south Cairo, the first in living memory by women in Egypt, the two veiled women fired three shots at the coach’s back window, the Interior Ministry said. No one in the bus was hit but shattered glass lay on the road.

The two veiled woman, identified by the Interior Ministry as the bomber’s sister Negat Yousri and his girlfriend Iman Ibrahim Khamees, attacked on the Salah Salem highway, one of the main arteries through the south of the city.

The ministry said Negat then shot and wounded her companion and committed suicide. Khamees died in hospital of wounds.

It said the man who blew himself up was Ihab Yousri Yassin, a fugitive member of the group which planned the April 7 bombing which killed three tourists in a Cairo bazaar.

He jumped from a bridge into the square below where he detonated the bomb.

The police has arrested two other fugitive members of the group, named as Ashraf Said Youssef and Gamal Ahmed Abdel-Aal, the ministry added.

Other security sources said someone had thrown a bomb from a bridge behind the museum.

Two groups — the Mujahideen of Egypt and the Martyr Abdullah Azzam Brigades — said on an Islamist Website that they had carried out the attacks.
— Reuters

Washington, May 1
North Korea lashed out at President Bush on Saturday for comments he made about the country's leader, Kim Il Jong, at a news conference on Thursday, asserting that the North Korean nuclear crisis will never be resolved while Bush remains in office.

North Korea declared in February that it had produced nuclear weapons and refused to return to six-nation disarmament talks. Saturday's statement appears to signal the end of that diplomatic process, heightening the stakes in the impasse. The Bush Administration has warned Asian allies in the past week that satellite images suggest North Korea is preparing its first underground nuclear test.

‘‘We can no longer tolerate and wait for a shift in the (US) policy,’’ the North Korean statement concluded.

The Bush Administration has engaged in an intensive effort to persuade North Korea to return to the talks, with a senior envoy shuttling between Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul last week. Bush took State Department officials and foreign diplomats by surprise with unusually strong language at the televised news conference, calling Kim a ‘‘tyrant’’ and a ‘‘dangerous person’’ who ran ‘‘concentration camps.’’

Kim is considered almost a deity in his country, and the North Korean statement said it could not ignore such ‘‘slandering and cursing remarks.’’

Bush had never made such cutting remarks about Kim in such a high-profile setting, though he occasionally referred to Kim as a tyrant while on the campaign trail last year.

Administration officials have declined to explain the President's remarks.

Christopher Hill, the Assistant Secretary of State who is attempting to lure Pyongyang back to the negotiating table, reported little progress on Friday at the conclusion of his tour of Asian capitals.

Hill declined to discuss other options if North Korea does not return to the negotiating table, saying it would undermine the diplomacy. US officials are considering a number of ideas, including increasing pressure through a tightened blockage of North Korea's illicit activities and bringing the matter to the UN Security Council.

But some partners in the talks, especially China and South Korea, have balked at tougher measures. Rather than isolating Pyongyang, China has increased trade with North Korea by about 20 per cent in the past year.

US intelligence analysts believe North Korea has harvested enough plutonium for about nine weapons. North Korea's nuclear facility at Yongbyon was shut down last month, indicating officials planned to extract more plutonium for the fuel rods.

Atlantic City (USA), May 1
Yash Chopra’s blockbuster “Veer-Zaara”, based on a love affair between an Indian man and Pakistani woman, dominated the annual Bollywood Awards here, winning top honours in six categories, including best film, best direction and best actor.

A visibly happy Chopra accepted the award for best direction for “Veer-Zaara”, which also received the best film award, at a star-studded ceremony at Trump Taj Mahal Casino here last night but Shah Rukh Khan, adjudged the best actor, was not present to receive the trophy in person.

A highlight of the ceremony was Madan Mohan, who died in 1975, winning the award for best music in “Veer-Zaara”. The award was accepted by his grandson.

Chopra used for the movie some of the composer’s unused composition which were re-recorded under the direction of maestro’s son Sanjeey Kohli. This was the first time that a dead composer’s unused compositions were used for an entire length of a commercial movie which went on to become a superhit.

The award for best story went to Aditya Chopra for “Veer-Zaara” and Manish Malhotra got the top honour for designing costumes in the same movie.

Rani Mukherjee and Abhishek Bachchan scored a double each. Mukherjee bagged awards for both best actress and best supporting actress for her performances in “Hum Tum” and “Yuva”, respectively. Abhishek Bachchan won awards for both best villain and best supporting actor for “Yuva”.

The awards are based on polling among non-resident Indians, after which an experts’ committee made the final selection.
— PTI

Islamabad, May 1
Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani has said that Pakistan wants resolution of the Kishanganga issue by mutual consent of Islamabad and New Delhi in accordance with the spirit of the Indus Water Treaty.

Talking to a TV channel, he said India was digging a tunnel to divert Neelum River water, which would reduce Pakistan’s share. Terming the diversion a clear violation of the Indus Water Treaty, the spokesman said Pakistan had invited India to hold talks on the issue.

He said: “Pakistan wants bilateral resolution of the Kishanganga issue. If India continues blatant Indus Water Treaty violations then Pakistan would be compelled to seek the World Bank’s arbitration on the issue also.”

Replying to a question, he said Pakistan had genuine objections on the Baglihar dam’s design.

India should have voluntarily stopped the construction on it soon after the emergence of Pakistani concerns, he said.

He said the aggressive Indian attitude had forced Pakistan to seek the World Bank’s support for amicable settlement of the Baglihar dam imbroglio.

New York, May 1
Three Indian-Americans have been selected for the Indo-US Professorship by the American Society for Microbiology.

Professor and Associate Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of North Texas Health Science Center Jamboor K Vishwanatha, Associate Professor of cell biology and genetics Neeraj Agarwal and Assistant Professor of oral biology at the University of Manitoba Abhijit Banarjee, have been selected for the Professorship which is sponsored by the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum.

It allows microbiologists in both countries to exchange visits to institutions to teach a short, interactive course.
— UNI

Islamabad, May 1
Pakistan has said it will not agree to a suggestion to dismantle a UN observers’ group in both sides of Kashmir until the Kashmir issue is resolved.

Reacting to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s reported remarks that he would discuss with the two countries the future of the UN Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan, Foreign Office spokesman Jalil Abbas Jilani said he would like to see the text of Mr Annan’s recent comments.

However, Pakistan would not agree to a suggestion to remove the group without the settlement of the Kashmir issue, he was quoted as saying by the local daily ‘The News’.

The group has deployed 44 observers in Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. — PTI

Kathmandu, May 1
In the first huge anti-government rally since the February 1 power grab by Nepal King Gyanendra, some 15,000 trade union activists and labourers today marched in the capital to mark International Labour Day demanding trade union rights, democracy, Press freedom and human rights, a day after the royal government lifted emergency.

The rally was held even as Press censorship and ban on political activities were continuing in the Himalayan Kingdom despite yesterday’s government announcement of lifting the state of emergency.

Organised by five federations, including the Nepal Trade Union Congress affiliated to the Nepali Congress and the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions, the march also saw the participation of union activists from India, Japan, Belgium and Sweden.
— PTI

Kathmandu, May 1
The first direct bus service between Kathmandu and China's Lhasa was flagged off today morning.

Jointly inaugurated by Nepal's Labour and Transport Minister Ram Narayan Singh and the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal, Sun Heping, the 43-seat bus rolled out of Lalitpur in the Nepalese capital at 8.30 am. The bus is scheduled to cover the 1,044 km distance in three days reaching Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, on Tuesday.
— IANS

Laguna Beach, May 1
Gordon Shaw, the physicist whose research on classical music's effect on the brain produced an often-quoted study that showed listening to Mozart raises a person's IQ, has died. He was 72.

Shaw died of kidney cancer Tuesday at his home. He gained national attention in 1993 when he reported that a group of college students who listened to Mozart's "Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major" saw their IQs increase substantially. He never cared for the media attention his work generated, however, complaining that headlines like "Mozart's Music Makes You Smarter" oversimplified his studies.

Such reports on his work also led to a backlash in the academic community when other scientists reported they could not duplicate the results uncovered by Shaw.
— AP